Tropical storm kills three in China, claims 100 in RP
Tropical storm kills three in China, claims 100 in RP
HONG KONG (AP): Tropical Storm Utor killed three people in
China as it swept through the southeastern province of Guangdong,
wiping out 4,700 homes and causing US$2.59 billion in damage,
state-run media reported Saturday.
The storm was downgraded from a typhoon on Friday as it
slammed into China. It blew through the Philippines earlier,
killing 100 people and leaving 58 missing, the government's
disaster monitoring agency said Saturday.
Thousands of passengers were stranded in Hong Kong as
authorities tried to clear a backlog of flights caused by the
storm and a labor action by pilots for a local carrier.
The state-run Southern Metropolitan Daily newspaper reported
on Saturday that the storm had affected 5.69 million people in
Guangdong, where it hit on Friday. As it moved onto Guangxi
province on Saturday, authorities mobilized more than 10,000
soldiers and 100,000 civilians to strengthen dams and battle
severe floods, China News Service reported.
The Hong Kong Observatory said Saturday afternoon that Utor
was centered about 110 kilometers north of Nanning, Guangxi's
provincial capital, and was moving west at about 20 kph (15 mph).
One rural town near Guangxi's capital city of Nanning was
submerged in record-high flood waters, cutting off electricity
and all transportation, CNS reported.
Utor, which means "squall" in the language spoken on the
Marshall Islands, hit hardest earlier in mountainous provinces of
the northern Philippines. Officials said the death toll in the
Philippines rose to at least 100 on Saturday.
The storm also killed one Taiwanese man by sweeping him into
the ocean when it churned past the island.
A fishing boat which went missing was said to have run aground
off the northern Philippine island of Babuyan, but the seven
sailors on board were alive, according to boat owner Chen Shun-
liang, quoting unidentified shipping sources. Officials, however,
said they could not confirm that.
In Hong Kong, Airport Authority spokeswoman Wong Sau-ying said
116 airplanes were canceled or delayed since midnight Friday and
a maximum of 112 flights were grounded at the Chek Lap Kok
airport at one point.
On Friday, 87 flights were canceled and 402 delayed as
tropical storm Utor swept through the territory, causing flooding
and paralyzing land and air transport for most of the day. As the
typhoon moved further away, the Hong Kong Observatory lowered all
typhoon signals Saturday morning.
Some passengers stranded inside the aircraft were sickened by
the long delays since midnight Saturday, while other frustrated
passengers quarreled with airlines' staff at the counters.
A government spokeswoman said 15 people have been taken to the
hospital, with four still being treated. The three men and one
woman, aged between 17 and 61, are in stable condition.
The stormy weather has compounded the Cathay Pacific pilots'
"work-to-rule" industrial action since Tuesday. The pilots' union
aimed to disrupt flights without breaking regulations after talks
with the airline management broke down over pay and working
conditions late last week.
Cathay said 39 out of 128 flights were canceled Saturday, in
addition to the 56 flights canceled on Friday due to the typhoon.
A hundred flights were delayed for 15 minutes or more, partly
because of the industrial action, it said.